Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown announced at a press conference Monday afternoon that the Bengals and quarterback Andy Dalton have reached an agreement to a six-year contract extension.

"This is a happy day," said Brown. "We're betting big on him because we believe in him."

Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn, head coach Marvin Lewis, Brown and Dalton were all at the press conference.

Brown said Blackburn did all of the work on this deal and was proud of her.

"I'm so thankful to get this opportunity to come to this city and to play for the Bengals...I'm so blessed," said Dalton.

"We don't have to worry about it anymore. We can just play the game. It's a relief," said Dalton.

"It's important we know who the quarterback is at all times. Guys want to know who's leading them," said Lewis.

The base salary of the 6-year extension is $96 million with $17 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to FOX19.

Pro Football Talk reports Dalton will be paid more per
season depending on his success in the playoffs. ‘Contract escalators' would
kick in depending on how far Dalton leads the Bengals in the postseason. If he
were to win the Super Bowl this season, the Bengals would pay Dalton additional
money each year of his contract that would take over $110 million dollars. That
would be the max value of the deal.

Dalton set career-highs last year for passing yards (4,293), touchdowns (33), passer rating (88.8) and gives the best winning percentage (.625) of any Bengals QB with 10 or more starts.

Dalton has joined Peyton Manning and Cam Newton as the only NFL passers to top 3000 yards in each of their first three seasons.

The 26-year-old had one year remaining on his rookie deal, and in his three seasons he's taken the Bengals to the playoffs, where he posted completion percentages of 64.3, 46.7 and 56.9, but has yet to win a playoff game.

"Andy's our guy," wide receiver A.J. Green said. "We have a lot of confidence in Andy as a player and a leader. In tough times, he's unflappable. He's going to take us to that next level."